Toll Brothers Inc., with homebuilding operations in Connecticut, said Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter net income rose 54 percent, partly helped by a higher tax benefit, The Associated Press reports. But the nation’s biggest luxury homebuilder narrowed its full-year home delivery outlook, as market conditions remain unstable.
Toll Brothers earned $42.1 million, or 25 cents a share, for the three months ended July 31. That compares with net income of $27.3 million, or 16 cents a share, in the prior-year period.
This easily beat the 4 cents a share analysts polled by FactSet expected.
The quarter included a $38.2 million tax benefit compared with a $26.5 million benefit a year ago.
“This past quarter’s results indicated some continued stabilization in the upscale housing market, albeit at a level dramatically below historical levels,” CEO Douglas C. Yearley Jr. said in a statement.
Revenue dropped 13 percent to $394.3 million from $454.2 million, missing Wall Street’s $409.2 million estimate.
Home deliveries fell 14 percent to 693 houses, while net signed contracts rose 2 percent to $406.7 million. The average price of net signed contracts was basically flat at $570,000.
Toll Brothers’ cancellation rate rose to 7.4 percent from 6.2 percent, but the Horsham, Pa. company said that it was consistent with pre-downturn historical averages.
Backlog at the end of the quarter was $1.02 billion, up 8 percent.
